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Saturday, February 12, 2011

Lean Cuisine, FiberOne bar, and.... Oops...

So today started out pretty good... After a VERY long night, I woke up and before work had my usual breakfast of a Zone Perfect Chocolate Caramel Cluster bar and a Slim-Fast shake. Starting the day on a healthy note always puts me in the right mindset to finish the day healthy, too. Today that ALMOST worked.

Because of my work schedule at CVS, I always end up eating a late lunch/early dinner around 5:30pm when I'm normally used to eating dinner around 7. Which unfortunately always leaves me starving by the time I get home around 9pm, which then results in me eating an actual dinner. Because on these days I usually have a late breakfast instead of breakfast and an early lunch, it's not like I'm eating more than three meals a day, which is good. At work, I ate my normal dinner of a microwaveable Lean Cuisine. To try to supplement myself and keep myself from getting hungry later in my shift (especially since I was forced to go on my break at 5pm) I also had an Oats&Chocolate FiberOne bar. Also, I usually drink a diet soda at work like Diet Mountain Dew to keep myself awake with the caffeine and not have to consume all the extra calories that are in drinks like in coffee, energy drinks, or regular soda.

My biggest hobby besides cooking is definitely reading. When I was little I would bring a book EVERYWHERE... and usually still do! Big purses are great for stashing reading material "just in case" - as I put it. During winter and summer breaks from school I usually read a ton because during the school year I don't get a lot of time to do personal reading because I'm so swamped with reading academic books. By the time I'm done reading for homework the last thing I want to do is pick up another book usually. So during the semester I use my breaks at work to get my reading done. Right now I'm reading this book Anthropology of an American Girl that I bought off Half.com for very cheap.

Uh oh! Here comes the bad part... So I was feeling good for a while until I started to drool with thoughts of my favorite guilty pleasure - Wendy's! It's RIGHT on the way from work to Brent's house, where I always go after work and I'm usually tempted to pull over and order my usual - the Jr. Hamburger Deluxe with no onions, no cheese and a Small Fry. But even as I was getting hungrier and hungrier as the night went on I tried to suppress my roaming mind with thoughts of a healthy turkey sandwich from Brent's fridge, which is often what I eat for my late dinner when I get home from work around 9pm. I remembered an article I read yesterday in the doctor's office waiting room in from a magazine featuring the Biggest Loser trainers and their weight-loss tips. My mom and I have always been big fans of the show, so I opened to the article and starting reading their advice. At work I remembered one that had stuck in my mind after hitting so close to home... "If you drive past places on the way home from/to work that sparks a craving, either take a different route or pop a piece of gum as you're driving by." Determined to listen to Jillian and Bob's sage words, I dutifully decided to take the long way to Brent's and therefore stop myself from driving past the dreaded Wendy's. But, unfortunately, after having to work a half hour late, I was tired from barely sleeping the night before and exhausted from working hard all night... It was too late, in my mind I was already sitting in the drive-through. Even though last night wasn't that great of a healthy night either, I gave in to my temptations and got my amazing burger and fries.

The important thing to remember is that just because I slipped up this once, doesn't mean that I should give up all hope. Sure, I had a rough night and a hard day at work... I felt like I "deserved" this treat. This is something that I (and probably a lot of people) need to work on. Rewarding yourself with food for surviving a bad day is NOT a good plan. Of course it feels great and hits the perfect spot... but it's a bad habit to get into. Stopping myself from rewarding myself with food is one of my biggest goals within this lifestyle change I'm making. Maybe it feels good at the moment, but I always feel worse afterwards knowing that I disappointed myself. My homework is going to be thinking of a good substitute for a reward that doesn't include fat and calories! ;)